getting from Orlando to Port Canaveral

Hi everyone, we have 6 people - 2 adults, 2 21yr olds, an 18yr old and one 13yr old going on the Epic out of Port Canaveral on Dec 16th, 2017. We haven't cruised a lot and never out of Port Canaveral. We are flying into Orlando on Dec. 15th and I've been researching the least expensive way to get one night at a hotel and transfers over to Port Canaveral and back. I would appreciate any suggestions from some of you more seasoned cruisers.

Welcome to the forum. Check out the Florida departures board for lots of information on hotels and transportation.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

We always hire a car - you will probably need one to get to your hotel as Orlando is a big area. We find it the cheapest and most convenient way to get to the port. You would need to hire a large van, but both pick up and drop off are easy.

For a large group, it is probably cheapest to rent a minivan.

Since we hate being crammed into share ride van, we caught the NCL bus from MCO to PC. Few in the night before, stayed near the airport in a hotel with a free shuttle, and went to the airport on the morning to catch the bus. It's about a 50 minute ride out to the port.

We have done exactly what you describe with a similar contingent. We rented a minivan through Avis at the airport with a scheduled drop at the Cocoa Beach depot. We stayed at a hotel at Cocoa beach over night and used the van to tour around. The morning of the cruise I dropped the van off and took a short carbide back to the hotel. The hotel provided a shuttle to the cruise port. We had also reserved a minivan with Avis Cocoa beach for drop off at the airport upon debarkation and Avis had regular shuttle that picked us up at the cruise terminal and took us to the Cocoa beach lot. There was a bit of a wait for the shuttle because several other were doing the same but it wasn't a big deal. If we sail out of PC in the future we'd do the same thing. FYI the hotel we used was the Marriott Courtyard Cocoa Beach Cape Canaveral.

Welcome to the forum. Check out the Florida departures board for lots of information on hotels and transportation.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=495

Thank you!

We were very happy with the package through goportcanaveral.com.

We received transfers to and from the airport. We arrived at our hotel the night before the cruise which was the Homewood suites. They supplied free breakfast. It was a good deal and everything worked out great.

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Are you arriving early in the day (overnight near the Port) or after dark when it may be best to overnight near the airport?

In my opinion you have to choose between the inconveniences of a shared shuttle van or bus versus the convenience of a one-way Ford Transit Van rental or a private shuttle van. You may pay slightly more for the latter two but you are traveling on your terms and not on someone else's schedule.

Travel agencies such as goportcanaveral do offer lower cost travel (not always the lowest however) but it is a package deal and there are inconveniences such as waiting for the large shared bus, delays while dropping others at different hotels, cruise terminals, getting the worst (lowest cost) rooms in some hotels, etc. You travel as part of a group on the same package and if you are OK with that then give them a try!

Expect to pay between $120 - $150 for either a private shuttle van or a Ford Transit rental car to get from MCO to your hotel. The rental van gives you flexibility to explore the port area the night before your cruise.

The hotel part is easy and depends on your budget. You can choose from a Motel 6 to a Hilton on the beach. But it depends also on your room requirements. 6 per room? 4 per room, etc. since not all hotels have large rooms.

What is your expected budget for room costs?

Are you arriving early in the day (overnight near the Port) or after dark when it may be best to overnight near the airport?

 

In my opinion you have to choose between the inconveniences of a shared shuttle van or bus versus the convenience of a one-way Ford Transit Van rental or a private shuttle van. You may pay slightly more for the latter two but you are traveling on your terms and not on someone else's schedule.

 

Travel agencies such as goportcanaveral do offer lower cost travel (not always the lowest however) but it is a package deal and there are inconveniences such as waiting for the large shared bus, delays while dropping others at different hotels, cruise terminals, getting the worst (lowest cost) rooms in some hotels, etc. You travel as part of a group on the same package and if you are OK with that then give them a try!

 

Expect to pay between $120 - $150 for either a private shuttle van or a Ford Transit rental car to get from MCO to your hotel. The rental van gives you flexibility to explore the port area the night before your cruise.

 

The hotel part is easy and depends on your budget. You can choose from a Motel 6 to a Hilton on the beach. But it depends also on your room requirements. 6 per room? 4 per room, etc. since not all hotels have large rooms.

 

What is your expected budget for room costs?

I hope I'm doing this right, this is my first time replying to a post. :)

SteerageJoe, we are arriving at 10:30pm so I'm planning on staying near MCO and we will head to the port the next day. There seem to be a couple of good options with Go Port Canaveral. Renting a car for about 2-3 hours doesn't seem worth the cost. As far as hotels, I don't need high end, but I don't like low end either, and 1 or 2 rooms will depend on the price.

OK, when you arrive that late it makes perfect sense to stay in Orlando.

Goportcanaveral does have good rates given the ease of booking instead of trying to put the pieces together yourself. As long as you are OK with getting to your terminal a bit later due to the extra stops to pick/drop other passengers then go for it!

If you want to compare prices you book an airport hotel with free airport shuttle of your choice online, then use a private or shared van from companies such as Cortrans or First Choice from the hotel to the port and back. Do expect to pay at least $120 each way for these shuttles when 6 persons even if shared.

I think goportcanaveral may be your best bet and their large bus hired from Stylus is comfortable

Hi everyone, we have 6 people - 2 adults, 2 21yr olds, an 18yr old and one 13yr old going on the Epic out of Port Canaveral on Dec 16th, 2017. We haven't cruised a lot and never out of Port Canaveral. We are flying into Orlando on Dec. 15th and I've been researching the least expensive way to get one night at a hotel and transfers over to Port Canaveral and back. I would appreciate any suggestions from some of you more seasoned cruisers.

We just did this in February and we got a rental car from the airport and returned it to Port Canaveral, used a shuttle from rental company from car drop off to cruise terminal. Was surprised at how busy and congested the terminal area was. We also had a car booked disembarkation day, took shuttle from terminal to pick up car and dropped back at airport. For 6 people a rental Van would likely be the less expensive way to go as you pay per person for hotel pickups to terminal drops. Also so many of the reviews for ground transportation were sketchy.

No matter what you do patience is a must. The PC car rental offices are small and understaffed. Also the only cars they have are what gets dropped of out there so you may not always get what you book, could be a problem for a group of 6.

We're doing it on the "CHEAP". We're staying at Disney world for3 days prior to the cruise,they offer free shuttle to and from airport .soooo on the morning of December 2nd the shuttle will take us back to the airport then we pick up NCl's shuttle to the ship,and use same to return to airport on the 16th.works out nicely for us

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OK, when you arrive that late it makes perfect sense to stay in Orlando.

 

Goportcanaveral does have good rates given the ease of booking instead of trying to put the pieces together yourself. As long as you are OK with getting to your terminal a bit later due to the extra stops to pick/drop other passengers then go for it!

 

If you want to compare prices you book an airport hotel with free airport shuttle of your choice online, then use a private or shared van from companies such as Cortrans or First Choice from the hotel to the port and back. Do expect to pay at least $120 each way for these shuttles when 6 persons even if shared.

 

I think goportcanaveral may be your best bet and their large bus hired from Stylus is comfortable

 

Two things. With goportcanaveral the last shuttle from The airport is 9 PM but you can schedule one later than that for an additional charge of $50. That doesn't seem so bad. Second, we were glad to go to the Homewood Suites. It took a little longer to get there but it was made it so simple the next day and they have a 9 AM-ish transferto the port so we got there super early.

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Saturday, I again used Coco Beach Shuttle, whom I've been very pleased with their great service.

Is it realistic to try to make a 12:45 flight out of MCO the day of the cruise ends if we have priority walk off? The Epic is scheduled to dock at 8:00.

I made a 9:50a on Saturday. :)

We used to have pretty good luck with car rentals out of PC but the last two trips using Budget and Avis have been really poor experiences. Too many people, not enough vans and employees - very disorganized.

Hi everyone, we have 6 people - 2 adults, 2 21yr olds, an 18yr old and one 13yr old going on the Epic out of Port Canaveral on Dec 16th, 2017. We haven't cruised a lot and never out of Port Canaveral. We are flying into Orlando on Dec. 15th and I've been researching the least expensive way to get one night at a hotel and transfers over to Port Canaveral and back. I would appreciate any suggestions from some of you more seasoned cruisers.

I did a couple of things...

1. rented a car (picked up at Orlando International Airport) and drove to Coco Beach and stayed at the LaQuinta (very reasonable rates..offers free breakfast). Returned the rental car at Port Canaveral locatation drop off (I believe it was Budget Rental), and they shuttle you to the pier for free.

2. Flew into Orlando International Airport and stayed right at the Hyatt Regency ..right in the airport terminal..you never even leave the terminal building. Next morning took the Cortrans shuttle to Port Canaveral. Drawback: Hyatt is expensive, but the convenience was worth it. Cortrans was very reasonable (they often have a two for one special) and can be used for post cruise as well.

Just a heads up about my experience with goportcanaveral.com. The bus actually waited for us when we flew into Orlando to take us to the hotel. They could have easily made us wait for the next bus since we were scheduled on that one. We were pretty happy with them about that. After that things went downhill. The hotel we picked wasn't the best (but you get to choose the hotel so that's on us). However, the bus was 2 hours late picking us up at the hotel to embarkation. We also had to wait 2 hours after disembarkation to get a bus. A lot of people missed flights and we were pretty sure they were going to say "Sorry Charlie" and leave us stranded in the terminal. This was around 11pm and people were pulling in and getting off buses for their embarkation. We were literally the last people left off the Epic during that cruise and in the terminal.